PORTLAND, Ore. – A late-inning surge from the Pepperdine Waves sunk the Portland Pilots as they fell 7-5 at Joe Etzel Field. The loss drops the Pilots to 20-21 on the season and 12-8 in WCC play.

Brett Gillis – who was a designated hitter as well as the starting pitcher for Portland – had an electric outing. He had a career-high 12 strikeouts in 6.1 innings. Eli Morse also made an appearance for the Pilots, allowing four runs and four hits in 2.2 innings with only one strikeout.

At the plate, the Pilots tallied five runs off nine hits. The pilots had two batters record multiple hits on the day. Briley Knight and Gabe Skoro both went 2-for-4, making it the second time the batters have had multiple hits against the Waves this series.

Portland once again scored early, bringing in three runs in the first inning. Knight got the scoring started with a soft grounder that brought in Chad Stevens. Then, Gillis brought in two more runs with a liner towards center field, making it 3-0 Pilots after one.

The Pilots added to their lead in the third inning. Jake Tsukada picked up where he left off last night, bringing in a run with a sacrifice fly. That extended Portland's lead to four one-third of the way through.

Ben Patacsil would add one more run in the bottom of the sixth for the Pilots to make it 5-0 Portland. But the Waves responded in a big way in the top of the seventh. Pepperdine hit three solo homers in the inning to suddenly bring themselves within two. Billy Cook hit the first homer, followed by Aharon Modlin and Justin Lutes. The Pilots still led 5-3.

Pepperdine overtook the Pilots in the top of the eighth. With the bases loaded, Cook once again stepped up to the plate and launched a moonshot over the left field wall. The grand slam gave the Waves a two-run lead. The Pilots couldn't rally to find the extra runs, falling 7-5.

The Pilots and Waves will play their rubber match tomorrow at 12 p.m. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video options.